Churches, Don Wambolt said, are like fishbowls: "The fish will only grow as big as the bowl."

Bigger fishbowl, bigger fish.

That's the goal and the prayer as the Worship Center prepares to cut the ribbon on its bigger fishbowl — a new church building in Leola.

Not that the Worship Center's old fishbowl was tiny; the church draws about 4,000 people each weekend to Saturday and Sunday services. And not that the new $18.6 million fishbowl is the National Aquarium; the new auditorium seats 1,500 on the floor

But this fishbowl, said Wambolt, the church's creative ministries director, is designed for the needs of 21st-century fish — and for going fishing.

The Worship Center celebrates its milestone Sunday, Aug. 15, with a ribbon-cutting celebration and open house called "Dreams Come True." The following weekend, the congregation moves into its new fishbowl.

And the new Lancaster County Christian School -— a merger of Lancaster Christian School and the Worship Center's Living Word Academy — will spread out in the older church.

"We like to think it's unique," Wambolt said of the new church. "It's definitely got us in it.

"Every church has a personality — a vision and passion. You've got to know first what it is."

Thinking big and small

It took 10 years for the new church to go from vision to reality. The new reality is a big church that's designed to feel like a smaller fishbowl.

At 105,000 square feet, the new Worship Center is slightly smaller than the existing church, but with a larger footprint, all on one level for accessibility.

To ease traffic congestion, the Worship Center built a new access driveway off Creek Hill Road to the campus. There's also a new traffic signal on Route 23 at the entrance.

"Main Street" runs through the center of the structure, with east and west wings adjoining Center Square and the auditorium. The east and west entrances each have information centers. The "commons" area and Main Street Cafe, which is expected to be open during the week starting Sept. 7, are on the east end of town; the west end is populated by the children's ministry.

Each entrance, with a 35-foot-high open space, is dominated by a floor-to-ceiling painting by local artist Amber Miller.

On the "side streets" off Main Street are classrooms and meeting rooms, each with a flat-panel monitor, DVD system and surround-sound audio; the youth ministry; a gym with a basketball court; and the church's administrative offices.

Building God's Way, a Utah firm, designed the structure. The general contractor was RS Mowery & Sons Inc., of Carlisle. Construction, which started in May 2009, wrapped up in July.

Worlds of Wow, from Dallas, Texas, decorated the WCKids children's ministry. A lifelike tree sprouts at the entrance; the elementary auditorium looks like a clubhouse.

"We want church to be fun," Wambolt said. "Environments are important to us."

That includes the baptistery. Wambolt noted that while baptism is a public commitment to Jesus Christ, being baptized in a big church can be intimidating. The new baptistery is a pool on the east side of Main Street, where families and friends can gather while the immersion is shown via video projection to the congregation in the auditorium.

At the center of the building is the 1,500-seat auditorium, a curved space that's not much bigger than the multipurpose gym where the Worship Center has held services since 1981. The room's proportions are similar to the existing one, too.

It doesn't seem large, but Wambolt noted, "That's exactly what we want."

The goal wasn't to make an auditorium big enough to consolidate the congregation in one service — the church still will offer a Saturday evening service so people who work Sundays can attend.

There still will be two Sunday morning services, too: "We've noticed that most of our visitors come to the second service," Wambolt said. "If we eliminate the second service, would they come to the first service?"

The biggest changes in the auditorium are technological: high-definition video projection, LED lighting for lower electrical demand, easier access to the overhead catwalks and lighting equipment, a video control room and audio control center and ramp access to the platform.

"Ministry has changed over the years," Wambolt said, and the old building "wasn't designed for a church in the 21st century. We were still using overhead projectors when they moved in."

In fact, the original church was "a temporary facility." The Worship Center always planned to build anew — church leadership just didn't realize it would take 30 years.

"This building evolved," Wambolt said. But the new church was designed specifically for the communication needs of the 21st century, including high-definition projection, HDTV monitors and WiFi networks.

It's also designed for the community needs of a 21st-century church.

"As a large church, it's very important for us to keep it relational," Wambolt said, and that means more smaller meeting rooms for support and discipleship groups. It also led to the decision to build three fireplaces at strategic points for an intimate atmosphere.

"It's how we do church," he said.

Spreading out

The weekend of Aug. 14-15, culminating in the ribbon cutting and open house on Sunday, will be the congregation's last weekend in the old church. On Aug. 21 and 22, the Saturday and Sunday worship services will be in the new building. The Worship Center will dedicate the new building Oct. 2-3.

Church leaders are hoping the new building means bigger fish and more fishing — attracting new believers to Christ. They know the new building will mean changes in the way the church works.

For one thing, Living Word Academy won't be sharing space with the church — the merged Lancaster County Christian School, which will house elementary and high school classrooms at the Leola campus and elementary and middle school classes at the West Lampeter Township school, will expand into all of the existing building.

The Worship Center staff is still figuring out where groups will meet in the new church and how the church's ministry will change as a result.

Meanwhile, in the existing building, digital clocks in the lobbies are counting down the hours, minutes and seconds until the ribbon cutting.

"People are very excited," Wambolt said, and not just about the bricks and mortar.

"The church is the people and not the building. It facilitates what we do. They're excited, really, about what we'll be able to do — spread our wings."n

OPEN HOUSE

"Dreams Come True," the Worship Center's open house, is scheduled for 4-8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15, at 2384 New Holland Pike, with a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 and tours of the new church until 8. For information, see worshipcenter.org or beyondthebluechair.com.